To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.

Hubbard’s own: Quote Investigator credits him, and the words are in his books. The popular form rewords his. Its first appearance is a longer sentence in his essay on William H. Seward in Little Journeys to the Homes of American Statesmen (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1898; p. 370 per Quote Investigator), read here in an archive.org scan of a Putnam printing and in the Project Gutenberg text: ‘If you would escape moral and physical assassination, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing—court obscurity, for only in oblivion does safety lie.’ The Roycrofters’ Motto Book (1909), seen here, lists the motto ‘To escape criticism: Do nothing, say nothing, be nothing’. The Philistine of February 1910 printed ‘To avoid unkind criticism: say nothing, be nothing, do nothing’ (per Quote Investigator, not seen). The exact popular order and ‘avoid’ are in Evan Esar’s Dictionary of Humorous Quotations (1949: ‘To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing’, credited to Hubbard) and in a 1974 newspaper quoting the hockey coach Fred Shero (‘To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing and be nothing’), both per Quote Investigator. The internet often credits the saying to Aristotle; Quote Investigator found no substantive evidence for that (the Aristotle texts were not searched here). A 1907 Boston councilman credited the thought to William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, also without support. Searched: Quote Investigator, Wikiquote, the Project Gutenberg text of Little Journeys vol. 3, the archive.org scans of the 1898 Putnam edition and of the 1909 Motto Book.

1. 1852Before it · credited to N. HoweCharles Simmons’s Laconic Manual credits ‘N. Howe’ with a kindred saying that does not mention criticism.The way to be nothing, is to do nothing.Charles Simmons, A Laconic Manual and Brief Remarker (North Wrentham, Massachusetts, 1852), p. 376. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand.
2. 1898Earliest found · credited to Elbert Hubbard (his own essay)Hubbard, in his Little Journeys essay on William H. Seward, after recalling how a gifted schoolgirl was slandered by envious classmates.If you would escape moral and physical assassination, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing—court obscurity, for only in oblivion does safety lie.Elbert Hubbard, Little Journeys to the Homes of American Statesmen (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1898), ‘William H. Seward’, p. 370 (per Quote Investigator). Checked in the text of a page scan, not the image. Source
3. 1903Spread · credited to Elbert Hubbard (his own essay)Hubbard, in Little Journeys to the Homes of Eminent Orators, says Robert Pitt escaped all censure by ‘doing nothing, saying nothing and being nothing’.Elbert Hubbard, Little Journeys to the Homes of Eminent Orators (East Aurora: The Roycrofters, 1903), ‘William Pitt’, p. 167. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand.
4. 29 March 1908Reworded · credited to no oneAn unattributed filler in an Eau Claire, Wisconsin newspaper prints the compact form.TO ESCAPE CRITICISM, DO NOTHING. SAY NOTHING, BE NOTHING.Eau Claire Sunday Leader (Eau Claire, Wisconsin), 29 March 1908, section 2 (filler item), p. 5. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand.
5. 23 April 1908Credited to The PhilistineThe humour magazine Life prints the compact form, credited to Hubbard’s magazine.To escape criticism: Do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.—Philistine.Life, vol. 51, ‘Aut Scissors Aut Nullus’ (New York, 23 April 1908), p. 438. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand.
6. 1909Spread · credited to Fra Elbertus (Elbert Hubbard)The Roycrofters’ Motto Book lists it as a wall motto for sale, No. 202.To escape criticism: Do nothing, say nothing, be nothingFra Elbertus [Elbert Hubbard], The Motto Book; Being a Catalogue of Epigrams (East Aurora: The Roycrofters, 1909), p. 39. Checked on a page scan. Source
7. 7 November 1909Spread · credited to Elbert Hubbard (spoken)The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports Hubbard giving the recipe in a lecture in Cleveland.For the man who doesn’t want to be knocked and laughed at I give this recipe: Do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.Cleveland Plain Dealer, “Hubbard Praises Mayor Johnson: The Fra, Here on Lecture Bent”, 7 November 1909, p. 10-D. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand.
8. February 1910Reworded · credited to no one (Hubbard’s magazine)The Philistine prints a version with ‘avoid’.To avoid unkind criticism: say nothing, be nothing, do nothing.The Philistine: A Periodical of Protest, vol. 30, no. 3 (East Aurora: The Roycrofters, February 1910), p. 96. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand.
9. 1949Reworded · credited to Elbert HubbardEvan Esar’s Dictionary of Humorous Quotations prints the ‘avoid criticism’ form under Hubbard.To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.Evan Esar (ed.), The Dictionary of Humorous Quotations (Garden City: Doubleday, 1949), p. 101. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand.
10. 16 December 1974Reworded · credited to Fred Shero (as advice)A Washington newspaper quotes the hockey coach Fred Shero with the popular order.To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing and be nothing.George Raveling, ‘Coaches’ Corner’, Tri-City Herald (Pasco, Washington), 16 December 1974, p. 13. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand.

Hubbard first put the thought in his 1898 Little Journeys essay on William H. Seward, after remembering a schoolgirl at the head of her class who was slandered by jealous classmates: ‘If you would escape moral and physical assassination, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing—court obscurity, for only in oblivion does safety lie.’ By 1908 a compact form circulated, credited to The Philistine; the Roycrofters sold it as a wall motto (The Motto Book, 1909), Hubbard spoke it in a Cleveland lecture in 1909, and The Philistine printed ‘To avoid unkind criticism: say nothing, be nothing, do nothing’ in February 1910.

Anyone who says, does or amounts to anything will be criticised; the only way to escape criticism is to be nobody, so criticism is the price of a life that counts.

It is anti-advice, an ironic recipe: Hubbard is not recommending silence and inaction but saying that criticism comes with achievement.

• ShortenedThere is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing. Listed by Wikiquote under Aristotle’s Misattributed quotes, with Hubbard’s 1898 sentence as the source; Quote Investigator found no evidence for Aristotle. Where it was seen
• The form on posters and social mediaTo avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing. The same words credited to Aristotle on posters and quote sites; Quote Investigator found no substantive evidence for Aristotle. Where it was seen

Life, Wisdom

• The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.
• Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes. Oscar Wilde
• Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. (not found) Albert Einstein
• Let a young man in his desperation go out and hunt. If he kills the elephant, his poverty ends. If the elephant kills him, his poverty ends. Anonymous
• Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself. J. K. Rowling

• quoteinvestigator.com/2015/01/09/say-nothing (Quote Investigator, ‘To Avoid Criticism, Say Nothing, Do Nothing, Be Nothing’, 9 January 2015, updated 2017 and 2025)
• gutenberg.org/ebooks/13911 (Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, vol. 3: American Statesmen, ‘William H. Seward’, Project Gutenberg)
• archive.org/details/littlejourneys00hubb (Little Journeys to the Homes of American Statesmen, Putnam, 1898, scan)
• archive.org/details/mottobookbeingca00hubb (The Motto Book, 1909, scan)

“To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.” Attributed to Elbert Hubbard. Not in these words. The idea is in Fra Elbertus [Elbert Hubbard], The Motto Book; Being a Catalogue of Epigrams by Fra Elbertus, Assisted at Times by Solomon, Ruskin, Shakespeare, Joaquin Miller, Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Ali Baba and Felix Cyrenius (East Aurora: The Roycrofters, copyright 1909 by Elbert Hubbard), p. 39, No. 202. Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/to-avoid-criticism-say-nothing-do-nothing-be-nothing/ (checked 27 October 2026).

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